Ready-to-Use Nutraceutical Formulations from Edible and Waste Organs of Algerian Artichokes

Abstract

Edible, plant-derived foodstuffs are recognized as precious sources of polyphenol compounds, whose consumption has proven to have multiple beneficial effects on human health. However, the awareness that cooking processes are able to induce quali-quantitatively changes in their native occurrence and that their bioavailability after food ingestion is poor led the research to move toward the preparation of nutraceutical supplements aimed at maximizing their content by effective extractive techniques and protecting them from degradation. The present work fits into this context, proposing a green, ready-to-use formulation of capitula, stems, and leaves of Algerian artichokes, in which natural deep eutectic solvents were exploited as extracting solvents but not removed at the end of the process. MTT test on the Caco-2 cell line highlighted that mitochondrial redox activity inhibition was absent below the 50 µg/mL tested dose. Simulated in vitro digestion was used as a predictive model for formulation bioaccessibility, where the joint approach with UHPLC-HRMS techniques allowed to define the release of each polyphenol from the investigated matrices. The capitula-based sample was the richest one in flavonoids, especially luteolin and apigenin glycosides, which survived in the intestinal digesta. On the contrary, simple phenols characterized the stem sample, whose release was mainly in the gastric chyme.